Nilpotency of Connes'' periodicity operator and the idempotent conjectures

For certain classes of discrete groups we verify the idempotent conjectures for various group algebras by the method of cyclic cohomology. In particular, the Banach ¹ (G) of a torsion free word hyperbolic groupG of Gromov contains no nontrivial idempotents. Moreover, the range of any tracial state onK ₀(¹(G)) is .Sponsored in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.     

压电复合材料层合板自适应结构的振动控制

本文针对板壳型自适应结构,研究了压电材料作为作动器的自适应结构的振动控制。利用四节点压电复合材料层合板单元进行自适应结构的有限元动力分析;采用模态控制方法,将结构的各阶模态的阻尼比作为控制目标,并以此计算出各压电片的控制电压,达到控制结构振动的目的。算例给出了数值计算的结果。     

大型结构可靠性优化设计的大系统方法

首先回顾了基于可靠性的结构设计方法并对其进行了简要的评述;其次介绍了目前正处于热点的大系统设计方法,并提出了应用大系统方法进行大型结构可靠性设计的策略．该策略的主要思路是从结构方案阶段即考虑结构可靠度指标及重量指标的最优分配．一个大型结构可以分解成一系列子系统,而该系统中的每一个又可以分解成一系列二级子系统,直至最基本的子系统．建议对于大型复杂结构,最基本的子系统并非结构元件,而应是能用有限元模型进行基于可靠性优化设计的子结构．      

Positive solutions for one-dimensional -Laplacian boundary value problems with sign changing nonlinearity

This paper deals with the existence of positive solutions for the one-dimensional p-Laplacian

subject to the boundary value conditions:

where _p(s)=|s|^p−2s,p>1. We show that it has at least one or two positive solutions under some assumptions by applying the fixed point theorem. The interesting points are that the nonlinear term f is involved with the first-order derivative explicitly and f may change sign.     

Covering arrays of strength 3 and 4 from holey difference matrices

A covering array CA(N; t, k, v) is an N × k array with entries from a set X of v symbols such that every N × t sub-array contains all t-tuples over X at least once, where t is the strength of the array. The minimum size N for which a CA(N; t, k, v) exists is called the covering array number and denoted by CAN(t, k, v). Covering arrays are used in experiments to screen for interactions among t-subsets of k components. One of the main problems on covering arrays is to construct a CA(N; t, k, v) for given parameters (t, k, v) so that N is as small as possible. In this paper, we present some constructions of covering arrays of strengths 3 and 4 via holey difference matrices with prescribed properties. As a consequence, some of known bounds on covering array number are improved. In particular, it is proved that (1) CAN(3, 5, 2v) ≤ 2v ²(4v + 1) for any odd positive integer v with gcd(v, 9) ≠ 3; (2) CAN(3, 6, 6p) ≤ 216p ³ + 42p ² for any prime p > 5; and (3) CAN(4, 6, 2p) ≤ 16p ⁴ + 5p ³ for any prime p ≡ 1 (mod 4) greater than 5.     

A newsvendor model with fuzzy price-dependent demand

Price-dependence is an important characteristic for some inventory problems. This paper proposes a newsvendor model with fuzzy price-dependent demand, and discusses the conditions to determine the optimal pricing and inventory decisions jointly so that the expected profit could be maximized. Then an algorithm combining the method of ranking fuzzy numbers is developed to tackle the problem. Furthermore, comparison is made between the fuzzy model and the deterministic model to study the effect of the uncertain price-dependent demand, and the sensitivity properties of the joint optimal decisions are illustrated through numerical examples.     

Graphical Models for Ordinal Data

This article considers a graphical model for ordinal variables, where it is assumed that the data are generated by discretizing the marginal distributions of a latent multivariate Gaussian distribution. The relationships between these ordinal variables are then described by the underlying Gaussian graphical model and can be inferred by estimating the corresponding concentration matrix. Direct estimation of the model is computationally expensive, but an approximate EM-like algorithm is developed to provide an accurate estimate of the parameters at a fraction of the computational cost. Numerical evidence based on simulation studies shows the strong performance of the algorithm, which is also illustrated on datasets on movie ratings and an educational survey.     

The Orthogonal Subcategory Problem and the Small Object Argument

A classical result of P. Freyd and M. Kelly states that in “good” categories, the Orthogonal Subcategory Problem has a positive solution for all classes of morphisms whose members are, except possibly for a subset, epimorphisms. We prove that under the same assumptions on the base category and on , the generalization of the Small Object Argument of D. Quillen holds—that is, every object of the category has a cellular -injective weak reflection. In locally presentable categories, we prove a sharper result: a class of morphisms is called quasi-presentable if for some cardinal λ every member of the class is either λ-presentable or an epimorphism. Both the Orthogonal Subcategory Problem and the Small Object Argument are valid for quasi-presentable classes. Surprisingly, in locally ranked categories (used previously to generalize Quillen’s result), this is no longer true: we present a class of morphisms, all but one being epimorphisms, such that the orthogonality subcategory is not reflective and the injectivity subcategory Inj is not weakly reflective. We also prove that in locally presentable categories, the injectivity logic and the Orthogonality Logic are complete for all quasi-presentable classes. Financial support by Centre for Mathematics of University of Coimbra and by School of Technology of Viseu is acknowledged by the third author.     

Existence of a weak solution to the Navier–Stokes equation in a general time‐varying domain by the Rothe method

We assume that Ω^t is a domain in ?³, arbitrarily (but continuously) varying for 0?t?T. We impose no conditions on smoothness or shape of Ω^t. We prove the global in time existence of a weak solution of the Navier–Stokes equation with Dirichlet's homogeneous or inhomogeneous boundary condition in Q_{[0, T)} := {( x , t);0?t?T, x ∈Ω^t}. The solution satisfies the energy‐type inequality and is weakly continuous in dependence of time in a certain sense. As particular examples, we consider flows around rotating bodies and around a body striking a rigid wall. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonlinear Internal Damping of Wave Equations with Variable Coefficients

For wave equations with variable coefficients on regions which are not necessarily smooth, we study the energy decay rate when a nonlinear damping is applied on a suitable subrigion.